Abstract
Stability in systemic circulation, effective tumor accumulation, and the subsequent crucial subcellular targeting are significant elements that maximize the therapeutic efficacy of a drug. Accordingly, novel nanoparticles based on polysaccharides that simultaneously presented prolonged systemic circulation and mitochondrial-targeted drug release were synthesized. First, the mitochondrial-targeted polymer, 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl propionic acid-chitosan oligosaccharide-dithiodipropionic acid-berberine (DHPA-CDB), was synthesized, which was used to form self-assembled curcumin (Cur)-encapsulated cationic micelles (DHPA-CDB/Cur). Negatively charged oligomeric hyaluronic acid-3-carboxyphenylboronic acid (oHA-PBA), a ligand to sialic acid and CD44, was further added to the surface of the preformed DHPA-CDB/Cur core to shield the positive charges and to prolong blood persistence. oHA-PBA@DHPA-CDB/Cur formed a covalent polyplex of oHA-PBA and DHPA-CDB/Cur via the pH-responsive borate ester bond between PBA and DHPA. The mildly acidic tumor environment led to the degradation of borate ester bonds, thereby realizing the exposure of the cationic micelles and causing a charge reversal from −19.47 to +12.01 mV, to promote cell internalization and mitochondrial localization. Compared with micelles without the oHA-PBA modification, the prepared oHA-PBA@DHPA-CDB/Cur showed enhanced cytotoxicity to PANC-1 cells and greater cellular uptake via receptor-mediated endocytosis. oHA-PBA@DHPA-CDB/Cur was effectively targeted to the mitochondria, which triggered mitochondrial membrane depolarization. In mice xenografted with PANC-1 cells, compared with control mice, oHA-PBA@DHPA-CDB/Cur resulted in more effective tumor suppression and greater biosafety with preferential accumulation in the tumor tissue. Thus, the long-circulating oHA-PBA@DHPA-CDB/Cur, with mitochondrial targeting and tumor environment charge-reversal capabilities, was shown to be an excellent candidate for subcellular-specific drug delivery.
Highlights
The tumor microenvironment (TME), which contains complex stroma cells and matrix components, is believed to be a major cause of the difficulties facing the delivery of nanomedicines (Roma-Rodrigues et al, 2019)
Cells were co-incubated with oligomeric hyaluronic acid-3-carboxyphenylboronic acid (oHA-Phenylboronic acid (PBA))@DHPA-CDB/Cur (10–40 lg/mL) for another 24 h and the in vitro cell viability of PANC-1 cells was examined by using the MTT assay
The electrostatic interactions were unstable under physiological ion conditions; we investigated the stability of the oHA-PBA@DHPA-CDB/Cur particle size in PBS
Summary
The tumor microenvironment (TME), which contains complex stroma cells and matrix components, is believed to be a major cause of the difficulties facing the delivery of nanomedicines (Roma-Rodrigues et al, 2019). Given the extreme difficulty of delivering an ample payload that will reach and enter the tumor tissue, several multifunctional polymer nanoparticles with antitumor effects, which are sensitive to the TME, have attracted attention in the field of antitumor drug delivery (Lang et al, 2019; Taleb et al, 2019).
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